Wireless technology is growing in popularity. Businesses are not only migrating to wireless networking, they are steadily integrating wireless technology and associated components into their wired infrastructure. The demand for Wireless Local Area Networks (WLANs) is fueled by the growth of mobile computing devices, such as laptops and personal digital assistants and a desire by users for continual connections to the network without having to “plug in.” WLAN networks are defined by various IEEE specifications, such as IEEE 802.11 protocols. Because WLAN networks are open through radio frequency (RF) transmission, there is a recognized need for wireless security and for an associated system to provide security, such as a Wireless Intrusion Prevention System (WIPS), a Wireless Intrusion Detection Systems (WIDS), and the like.
Traditionally, dedicated wireless security systems (e.g., WIPS, WIDS, etc.) have been overlaid on top of a WLAN infrastructure to provide security monitoring, policy enforcement, and remote troubleshooting capabilities. By overlaid, the wireless security system is separate from the WLAN infrastructure. A dedicated wireless security system typically includes distributed wireless sensors that scan channels passively and report their events and statistics to a central server. The server analyzes information from the sensors and generates alarms in response to attacks, events, and policy violations. The server also provides a centralized mechanism to administer and configure the remote sensors as well as provide a central repository for historical wireless data.
The advantage of an overlaid wireless security system that it provides superior visibility across the RF band as well as enhanced security due to the fact that it is scanning for and responding to threats on a 24×7 basis. Further, decoupling the WIPS from the WLAN infrastructure allows for a WLAN vendor agnostic monitoring solution. Relying on infrastructure Access Points (AP) for wireless sensor data typically results in reduced visibility on channels that the AP is not operating on. Security performance degrades as the load on the AP is increased. However, the disadvantage of the overlaid model is a higher cost associated with deploying and managing two separate systems—the WLAN infrastructure and an overlaid security system. It would be advantageous to combine wireless security functionality with WLAN infrastructure while avoiding the performance issues and limitations with the integrated solution.